What is Immich and is it a good Google Photos replacement?

Immich is a free, open-source, self-hosted photo and video backup solution. It gives you the features people rely on Google Photos for — automatic phone backup, a timeline view, albums, sharing, and AI-powered face recognition and search — but everything runs on your own hardware, so your photos never leave your control. For most homelabbers it is the closest self-hosted experience to Google Photos, with polished iOS and Android apps that back up in the background.

How do I install Immich on Proxmox?

Immich is installed with Docker Compose, so the usual approach is to run a Docker host on Proxmox — either a Docker LXC container or a small VM — then download Immich's official docker-compose.yml and example.env files, set the upload location and database password, and run docker compose up -d. Point the upload location at a shared storage volume so your photo library lives on durable storage, not inside the container.

Does Immich have automatic phone backup like Google Photos?

Yes. Immich publishes native iOS and Android apps that automatically back up new photos and videos in the background as you take them, just like Google Photos. You point the app at your server URL, log in, choose which albums to back up, and it uploads new media whenever the phone has a connection. This background auto-backup is the main reason people switch to Immich rather than a plain file sync.

Is it safe to update Immich, given it has breaking changes?

Immich is now past its 1.0 milestone (version 3.0 was released on 1 July 2026), and for the vast majority of self-hosters, updating works exactly as it always has — pull the new images and restart. Breaking changes in recent releases mostly affect third-party API integrations rather than normal users. As with any service holding irreplaceable data, keep an independent backup of your originals and read the release notes before a major version jump.

Self-Host Your Photos with Immich: A Private Google Photos Alternative

On this page

Before you start
Install Immich
The part that hooks you: phone auto-backup
Keep your memories safe

Of all the reasons to build a homelab, this might be the most emotionally compelling: your photos are the one irreplaceable thing you own, and right now you’re renting the shelf they sit on. Google Photos, iCloud, whichever — the price creeps up, the free tier shrinks, and one day you’re paying monthly rent on your own memories.

Immich fixes that. It’s a self-hosted photo and video backup that looks and feels like Google Photos — timeline, albums, sharing, face recognition, “show me photos from the beach” search — except it all runs on your homelab, and the photos never leave your house.

Before you start

Immich runs with Docker Compose, so you need a Docker host. On Proxmox the two clean options are a dedicated Docker LXC or a small VM — see Docker on Proxmox: LXC vs VM to choose. If you’ve never written a compose file, run through Your First Docker Compose Stack first; this will feel familiar afterward.

Your library belongs on durable storage, not inside the container

The single most important decision here is where the photos physically live. Point Immich’s upload location at a shared storage volume or a dedicated disk — never the container’s own root filesystem. Then, no matter what happens to the Immich container, your originals are safe and independently backup-able.

Install Immich

Immich ships an official compose file and an example environment file. You download both, change two or three values, and start it.

1Grab the official compose and env files

On your Docker host, make a folder and pull Immich’s own release files. Using the official files (rather than hand-writing your own) means you always get the correct, matching set of services.

Download Immich's official files


mkdir -p /opt/immich && cd /opt/immich
wget -O docker-compose.yml https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
wget -O .env https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env

2Edit the two values that matter

Open .env and set where photos are stored and a database password. The rest of the defaults are fine to start.

.env — the lines to change


# Where your photos and videos will be stored.
# Point this at your shared storage or a dedicated disk:
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/tank/photos

# Set a strong database password (any long random string):
DB_PASSWORD=change-me-to-something-long-and-random

# Keep the version pinned to the release you downloaded:
IMMICH_VERSION=release

3Bring it up

Start the whole stack. The first launch pulls several images (server, machine-learning, PostgreSQL with the VectorChord vector extension, and Redis) so give it a few minutes.

Launch Immich


docker compose up -d

What just started

Immich isn’t a single container — it’s a small stack: the main server, a machine-learning service (faces and smart search), a Redis cache, and a PostgreSQL database using the VectorChord extension for fast similarity search. Recent Immich versions migrated to VectorChord from the older pgvecto.rs extension, which is handled automatically by the official compose file. You don’t have to manage any of this — compose does.

4Open the web UI and create the admin account

Browse to http://DOCKER-HOST-IP:2283. The first account you create is the administrator. Set it up, and you’re looking at an empty (for now) photo timeline.

The part that hooks you: phone auto-backup

Install the Immich app from the App Store or Google Play. Open it, enter your server URL (http://YOUR-SERVER-IP:2283 on your LAN, or a Tailscale address when you’re out), and log in. Turn on backup, pick which albums to include, and that’s it — from now on every photo you take uploads to your server in the background.

Reach it from anywhere without opening ports

Don’t port-forward Immich to the internet. Instead, install Tailscale on your phone and your homelab. Your phone then reaches Immich over an encrypted private tunnel, so background backup works on cellular exactly as it does at home — with none of the exposure of a public port.

Once your library is in, Immich’s AI quietly indexes it: it groups faces so you can name people, recognises objects and scenes so text search actually works, and plots geotagged shots on a map. It runs entirely on your hardware — no cloud, no scanning, no ads.

Keep your memories safe

Immich holds irreplaceable data, so treat it like it. Because your originals live on a separate volume, they’re easy to protect:

Snapshot and back up the Docker host with Proxmox Backup Server.
Keep an independent copy of the UPLOAD_LOCATION folder — the 3-2-1 rule applies to photos more than anything.
Read release notes before a major version jump, and update with a simple docker compose pull && docker compose up -d.

You’ve just replaced a monthly bill with something you own outright, and your photos are finally home. Add it to your Homepage dashboard and admire the growing stack — then head back to the roadmap for the next build.

Related posts:

Your First Docker Compose Stack — the deployment pattern Immich uses
Homelab NAS with Samba Shares — where to store a growing photo library
Proxmox Storage Guide: LVM, ZFS, NFS, and Ceph — plan disk space for years of photos
Proxmox Backup Server — back up the library you now own
Creating Your First LXC Container — an alternative host for Immich
Tailscale Subnet Router — reach your photos securely from your phone

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